Cover not available
Article published In:
Applied Pragmatics
Vol. 2:2 (2020) ► pp.148–173

Word searches in Persian tutoring sessions

Opportunities for language learning

| University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
Word searches have been widely examined in L1 conversation and L2 conversation. A word search occurs when speakers encounter problems retrieving the words needed to continue their talk, which may be completed by the speakers themselves or other interlocutors. This study uses a conversation analytic framework to analyze word search practices that turn into language learning. The study explores how participants enter word searches and transform them into language learning experiences. The data are from seven hours of video- and/or audio-taped naturally occurring conversations in Persian tutoring sessions between a native Persian-speaking tutor and a native English-speaking tutee. The study reveals that, despite limited linguistic competence, the tutee is an interactionally competent speaker who uses word searches as an interactional resource to solve communication breakdowns. The study also shows how the participants develop word searches into explicit pedagogical opportunities and engage in teaching and learning practices.
Keywords: word search, Conversation Analysis, repair, Persian, language learning
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Word searches
    • 2.1Word searches in L1 interaction
    • 2.2Word searches in L2 interaction and language learning opportunities
  • 3.Data and methodology
  • 4.Findings
    • 4.1Word search: Halloween
    • 4.2Word search: Childhood house
    • 4.3Word search: Childhood house continued
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Implications of the study
  • 7.Limitations and directions for future research
  • Acknowledgments
  • References
Published online: 17 August 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ap.19016.rez
References (47)
References
Brouwer, C. E. (2003). Word searches in NNS–NS interaction: Opportunities for language learning? The Modern Language Journal, 87(4), 534–545. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Burch, A. R. (2014). Pursuing information: A conversation analytic perspective on communication strategies. Language Learning, 64 (3), 651–684. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Færch, C., & Kasper, G. (1983b). Plans and strategies in foreign language communication. In C. Færch & G. Kasper (Eds.), Strategies in interlanguage communication (pp. 20–60). New York: Longman.Google Scholar
Firth, A., & Wagner, J. (1997). On discourse, communication, and (some) fundamental concepts in SLA research. The Modern Language Journal, 81 (3), 285–300. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ghomeshi, J. (1997). Non-projecting nouns and the ezafe: Construction in Persian. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory, 15(4), 729–788. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Goodwin, M. H. (1981). Searching for a word as an interactive activity. In J. Deely & M. D. Lenhart (Eds.), Semiotics (pp. 129–138). Plenum.Google Scholar
Goodwin, C. (1986). Gestures as a resource for the organization of mutual orientation. Semiotica, 62(1–2), 29–50.Google Scholar
Goodwin, M. H., & Goodwin, C. (1986). Gesture and co-participation in the activity of searching for a word. Semiotica, 62(1–2), 51–76.Google Scholar
Greer, T. (2013). Word search sequences in bilingual interaction: Code-switching and embodied orientation toward shifting participant constellations. Journal of Pragmatics, 571, 100–117. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hauser, E. (2017). Learning and the immediate use(fulness) of a new vocabulary item. The Modern Language Journal, 101(4), 712–728.Google Scholar
Hayashi, M. (2003). Language and the body as resources for collaborative action: A study of word searches in Japanese conversation. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 36(2), 109–141. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Heritage, J. (1984). A change-of-state token and aspects of its sequential placement. In J. M. Atkinson & J. Heritage (Eds.), Structures of social action: Studies in conversation analysis (pp. 299–345). Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
(2005). Conversation analysis and institutional talk. In K. Fitch & R. Sanders (Eds.), Handbook of language and social interaction (pp. 103–147). Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Heritage, J., & Clayman, S. (2010). Talk in action: Interactions, identities, and institutions. John Wiley & Sons. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hosoda, Y. (2000). Other-repair in Japanese conversations between nonnative and native speakers. Issues in Applied Linguistics, 11(1), 39–65.Google Scholar
(2006). Repair and relevance of differential language expertise in second language conversations. Applied Linguistics, 27(1), 25–50. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jefferson, G. (1987). On exposed and embedded error correction. In G. Button & J. Lee (Eds.), Talk and social organization (pp. 86–100). Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
(2004). Glossary of transcript symbols with an introduction. In G. Lerner (Ed.), Conversation analysis: Studies from the first generation (pp. 13–31). John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kasper, G. (2004). Participation orientations in German conversation-for-learning. The Modern Language Journal, 88(4), 551–576. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kasper, G., & Kellerman, E. (1997). Introduction: Approaches to communication strategies. In G. Kasper & E. Kellerman (Eds.), Communication strategies: Psycholinguistic perspective (pp. 1–13). Longman.Google Scholar
Koshik, I., & Seo, M. S. (2012). Word (and other) search sequences initiated by language learners. Text & Talk, 32(2), 167–189. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kurhila, S. (2006). Second language interaction. John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Laakso, M. (2015). Collaborative participation in aphasic word searching: Comparison between significant others and speech and language therapists. Aphasiology, 29(3), 269–290. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lee, D. S. (2004). Conversation analytic approach to communication strategies: Appeals in language learners’ word searches. [Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses.Google Scholar
Lerner, G. H. (1996). On the “semi-permeable” character of grammatical units in conversation: Conditional entry into the turn space of another speaker. In E. Ochs, E. A. Schegloff, & S. Thompson (Eds.), Interaction and grammar (pp. 238–276). Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Markee, N. (2000). Conversation analysis. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2004). Zones of interactional transition in ESL classes. The Modern Language Journal, 88(4), 583–596. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2008). Toward a learning behavior tracking methodology for CA-for-SLA. Applied Linguistics, 29(3), 404–427. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Markee, N. & Kasper, G. (2004). Classroom talks: An introduction. The Modern Language Journal, 88 (4), 491–500. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mori, J. (2004). Negotiating sequential boundaries and learning opportunities: A case from a Japanese classroom. The Modern Language Journal, 88(4), 536–550. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mori, J., & Hasegawa, A. (2009). Doing being a foreign language learner in a classroom: Embodiment of cognitive states as social events. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 47(1), 65–94. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mori, J., & Markee, N. (2009). Language learning, cognition, and interactional practices: An introduction. International Review of Research in Applied Linguistics and Language Teaching, 47(1), 1–9. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Olsher, D. (2007). Gesturally-enhanced repeats in the repair turn: Communication strategy or cognitive language-learning tool? In S. G. McCafferty & G. Stam (Eds.), Gesture: Second language acquisition and classroom research (pp. 109–130). Routledge.Google Scholar
Park, I. (2007). Co-construction of word search activities in native and non-native speaker interaction. Working Papers in TESOL & Applied Linguistics, 7(2), 1–23.Google Scholar
Pekarek Doehler, S. (2010). Conceptual changes and methodological challenges: On language and learning from a conversation analytic perspective on SLA. In P. Seedhouse, S. Walsh, & C. Jenks (Eds.). Conceptualizing ‘learning’ in applied linguistics, 105–126. Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pekarek Doehler, S., & Pochon-Berger, E. (2015). The development of L2 interactional competence: Evidence from turn-taking organization, sequence organization, repair organization and preference organization. In T. Cadierno & S. W. Eskildsen (Eds.), Usage-based perspectives on second language learning (pp. 233–268). Walter de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Raymond, G. (2004). Prompting action: The stand-alone “so” in ordinary conversation. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 37(2), 185–218. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Reichert, T., & Liebscher, G. (2012). Positioning the expert: Word searches, expertise, and learning opportunities in peer interaction. The Modern Language Journal, 96(4), 599–609. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sacks, H., & Schegloff, E. A. (1979). Two preferences in the organization of reference to persons in conversation and their interaction. In G. Psathas (Ed.), Everyday language: Studies in ethnomethodology (pp. 15–21). Irvington.Google Scholar
Schegloff, E. A. (1979). The relevance of repair to syntax-for-conversation in discourse and syntax. In T. Givón (Ed.), Discourse and syntax (pp. 261–286). Academic Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schegloff, E. A., Jefferson, G., & Sacks, H. (1977). The preference for self-correction in the organization of repair in conversation. Language, 53(2), 361–382. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Seedhouse, P. (2005). Conversation analysis and language learning. Language Teaching, 38(4), 165–187. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Seedhouse, P., & Walsh, S. (2010). Learning a second language through classroom interaction. In P. Seedhouse, S. Walsh, & C. Jenks (Eds.), Conceptualizing learning in applied linguistics (pp. 127–146). Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Seo, M. S. (2008). A conversation-analytic study of repair practices in one-on-one ESL tutoring. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses.Google Scholar
(2011). Talk, body, and material objects as coordinated interactional resources in repair activities in one-on-one ESL tutoring. In G. Pallotti & J. Wagner (Eds.), L2 learning as social practice: Conversation-analytic perspectives (pp. 107–134). National Foreign Language Resource Center University of Hawai‘i.Google Scholar
Üstünel, E., & Seedhouse, P. (2005). Why that, in that language, right now? Code-switching and pedagogical focus. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 15(3), 302–325. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Willey, B. T. (2001). Examining a “communication strategy” from a conversation analytic perspective: Eliciting help from native speakers inside and outside of word search sequences. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses.Google Scholar
Cited by (2)

Cited by two other publications

Garre-León, Víctor
2024. Sequence organization in L2 interactions. Applied Pragmatics DOI logo
Harumi, Seiko
2023. The facilitative use of learner-initiated translanguaging in Japanese EFL contexts. Applied Pragmatics 5:1 ► pp. 86 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 3 november 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.